Chris Tomlin notches first No. 1

Christian singer's 'Burning Lights' tops sleepy sales week

With January music sales slumbering, Christian artist Chris Tomlin secured his first No. 1 album on the U.S. chart with “Burning Lights.”

The Six Steps/Sparrow release attained the pinnacle with first-week sales of 73,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending Jan. 13. The singer-songwriter’s previous personal best came in 2008, when his “Hello Love” reached No. 9 on the national chart.

Tomlin claimed No. 1 with the smallest tally in five months: In September, Christian singer TobyMac’s “Eye on It” prevailed with a 69,000-unit tally.

Two other acts logged top-10 bows in a slow week. Hard rockers Black Veil Brides’ “Wretched and Divine” (Lava/Universal Republic) reached a career-best No. 7 with 42,000, topping the No. 17 performance of their 2011 title “Set the World on Fire.” New York punk unit Dropkick Murphys’ self-released “Signed and Sealed in Blood” debuted at No. 9, shy of the band’s career peak of No. 6, set with 2011’s “Going out of Style.”